Host-Targeted Treatments: Tick Tube Evaluation on Public Lands

Tick tubes are a host-targeted approach to tick management. They leverage mice's natural behavior to gather materials for their nests. The tubes provide permethrin-treated cotton, which mice incorporate into their nesting sites, effectively killing ticks on the mice and within their nests.

Following several years of optimization, this evaluation will assess the large-scale efficacy of tick tubes for use on public lands, aiming to decrease the risk of pathogen transmission from infected ticks. The project focuses specifically on reducing populations of Ixodes scapularis nymphs and the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

This is a multi-year project conducted across sites in western and central Pennsylvania as well as Delaware. The geographic spread is intentional — by working across regions with different forest composition, rodent communities, and habitat structures, the study is designed to evaluate how local ecology influences the efficacy of tick tubes. What works well in one landscape may perform differently in another, and understanding those differences is key to developing effective, site-appropriate tick management recommendations for public land managers.